


伏魔殿

by mido



Category: Mogeko | Funamusea, 廃れ夢 | Obsolete Dream, 灰色庭園 | Haiiro Teien | The Gray Garden
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, heller laste and gokuen are all only mentioned but gokuen is tagged bc hes important, kiheki makes a 2 sentence cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mido/pseuds/mido
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His suit'd been replaced (that nekomata's idea, one he was grateful for now) by a muted crimson yukata, with black and white sakura embroidered along the edges. His usual black shoes had also been taken, in favor of a pair of clunky wooden sandals. He swears he sees a familiar face with every street he turns onto, but it's most likely him grasping at straws to find someone he recognizes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	伏魔殿

**Author's Note:**

> [the pic that started a revolution](http://funamusea.com/other/LOG/m621.png)
> 
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> 
> tbh the only reason i tagged this under tgg is bc i want Every1 to see it

How Nio expects him to navigate this place without her help, Licorice doesn't know. It's obvious that he's new to this area to anyone who bothers to give him a second glance, but for the most part he doesn't stick out terribly. His suit'd been replaced (that nekomata's idea, one he was grateful for now) by a muted crimson yukata, with black and white sakura embroidered along the edges. His usual black shoes had also been taken, in favor of a pair of clunky wooden sandals. He swears he sees a familiar face with every street he turns onto, but it's most likely him grasping at straws to find someone he recognizes.

His arm is caught suddenly by a hand with fingernails sharp as teeth, and for a moment he thinks Nio has sought him out in pity but when he looks up, a fox's snout is centimeters from his nose. Licorice flinches and his arm twitches in Reina's grip, but the kitsune tugs him into an alley before he can look over his shoulder and meet eyes with Kiheki. She flattens her back to the wall, pulling Licorice to her side and keeping watch on the thriving street beside them as the demon follows suit. He opens his mouth to say something now lost on his tongue, but she raises two fingers to her mouth and hisses "Sh!" before he can. She throws her hand out with her index and middle finger pressed together and her three other digits huddled to her palm, slashing through the air as if painting a character on the youkai before her. She withdraws her arm gracefully when she finishes, looking down and straightening out her kimono as bright white paint seems to materialize out of thin air, spelling out "匿" before disappearing. Licorice watches with bated breath as Kiheki walks into their field of view, brown loafer tapping on the ground impatiently as she looks around, scowling. Her eyes land on Licorice as Reina smooths a few flyaway hairs back into her ponytail, but she doesn't seem to see him and walks away. The kitsune offers him a hand, her mask looking as if it's smiling wider than before.

He takes it, standing and dusting off his clothes, pulling at his obi to make sure it's still tight. "Laste says Gokuen's still in the mountains, so I'll accompany you to the forest. Olihana can take you through there." She glances back out at the street as if she's expecting someone to jump out at them. "There are outerworld portals at the edge of the territory; I'd suggest leaving as soon as possible. And, if you run into Heller--" She cuts herself off, and the air around them seems to thicken "--do _not_ try to take her on, no matter how powerful you think you are." Licorice can almost feel her smile through her mask. "Watch out for any onis, too, even if you don't know them. You don't know who's on who's side." Reina snaps her fingers, and the character behind them reappears and shatters. Her sandals clack against the cobbled ground as she jumps into the air, and Licorice hears her land on the roof tiles of the houses nearby. Without thinking the tips of his wings pierce the back of his yukata, tearing holes in the fabric as he stretches the thin bones, a bit cricked from being folded up so long. They spread out at his sides, just a bit longer than his armspan, displaying their black, leathery outsides and the vibrant purple veins running through them.

He leaps into the air, catching the wind beneath his wings and shooting after the kitsune hopping across the rooftops below him. Though she doesn't outwardly acknowledge him, her pace quickens. He beats his wings, raising himself higher while propelling himself forward, then folds his wings against his back and dives toward the trees ahead, the tops clustered like dyed cotton balls as the breeze catches their branches. He spreads his wings back out seconds before touching the ground, the air slowing him abruptly when he catches it within them. He drifts to the ground easily, landing gracefully on his feet. He's folding his wings to his back and sliding them back inside his yukata again when Reina drops down beside him, eyes drawn to the obvious tears on Licorice's back. "I'd have suggested transportation that didn't tear your clothes, but there's no fixing it now I suppose..." She sighs, stepping forward and helping him get his left wing back into his yukata. Once finished he turns around and fingers the ripped cloth on his back as if it'll knit itself together again at his touch (it doesn't), and Reina looks to the forest before them.

Licorice barely notices his spear has materialized in his hand when his gaze trips over two gleaming eyes in the darkness of the treetops, accompanied by a mouthful of glistening teeth, pointed and curved over a pair of ruby red lips. He pulls his arm back and aims, but Reina cuts in front of him and holds out her arms. "Oliha-na." She calls, drawing out the _a_ as if the demon's name is spelt with a ー. The face of what Licorice had assumed to be an oni moves to the side, revealing the cold gaze of a red-eyed demon (Olihana, he presumes). Their kimono is plain black, just like their hair, with a bright red hakama and matching obi. They jump from the tree branch to the ground where Reina and Licorice stand, tucking their mask into the folds of their hakama. She looks Licorice up and down, seeming as if she's scrutinizing the creases in his yukata, the tie of his obi, the shape of his horns, the style of his hair.

The demon looks to Reina expectantly. "This is the son of Satanick?" She asks, as if she hadn't been informed beforehand. The kitsune nods, holding her hands behind her back. "Yes, I take it Nio told you the situation...?"

Olihana's gaze shifts back to Licorice, and he bristles involuntarily. "Take him through the forest and to the portals." She recites, looking quite bored. Reina smiles under her mask. "Right." She turns in the direction of the mountains, taking note of the multicolored characters shattering and appearing along the tops. "I suppose I should go help hold off Gokuen..." She murmurs, and leaps back to the rooftops from whence they came. Olihana watches her leave, then turns back to Licorice with a distasteful expression. "Your wings won't be of use in here." She tells him bluntly, and he reaches behind to touch the tear in his yukata sheepishly. "I'm here to guide you, nothing more. If you get attacked, I'm not helping."

"Of course." Licorice replies. "And I, you."

She narrows her eyes at him, spinning on her heel and jumping into the trees, not even waiting for Licorice to join her. He does, however, following close behind. Moonrays drizzle through the leaves, dripping onto Olihana's kimono and hair. A black horn pokes out of a shrub below them, and without even thinking Licorice's spear materializes and he throws it at them. When it hits a blast of light engulfs the bush, and a scream pierces Licorice's ears as the light fades, revealing a pile of ash soon swept away in the wind. Olihana glances at him over her shoulder, but turns forward again once she sees he's still there.

Their sandals clack against the branches as they skitter through the treetops, cloaked by the shadows of the trunks and leaves. Licorice finds himself not focusing on following Olihana hereself, but rather going in the same direction of the red hakama draped around her torso. It's much easier to see than her hair or the rest of her kimono; all of it fades into the constant darkness of the Pitch World. He's about to move up beside her when a screeching voice startles them both, causing Olihana and by extension Licorice to stop.

"OOOLIEEE!"

Olihana reacts immediately, grabbing her mask out of  
her kimono and slipping it on. "Ah, I didn't expect a delay." She murmurs, sliding her knives out of her sleeves and into her hands. Licorice summons his spear, mirroring her actions as she waits patiently for the rapidly approaching figure. They leap into the air, yelling mindlessly through a grin as they launch themself at Olihana off a tree branch, arm outstretched and fingers bent. Licorice barely gets a glimpse of them other than their _nails that must be seven fucking centimeters long,_ painted as black as the forest around them. In all honesty, nails that long shouldn't faze him, as Nio's are only a bit shorter.

Olihana dodges, hopping to the side and nicking her attacker's forearm with her knife. She lands on the thicky knit grass below, matting it beneath her sandals. "Working for Gokuen now?" She calls, readying her knives. "Jianshi?"

Her attacker, Jianshi, lands opposite the demon, with considerable space between the two. Deep red, nearly maroon blood wells up in pearls along the slit in their arm. They wear a red dress complete with a full skirt (most likely hiding a hoop beneath) lined with a darker trim. Wrapped around their arms are equally dark sleeves, each ended by a black cuff buttoned around their wrist. Baggy white pants are visible below their skirt, pulled into ruffles at their ankles beside clunky coal heels. A long black sash falls squarely down their chest and the center of their skirt, the other end wrapped around their neck and held in place by a muted pink ribbon. Similar sashes hang from their forearms, sewn to their sleeves in the same crimson color. Atop their head is a hat looking like someone sawed a gift box in half; a red bow sits on top, and two just like it adorn the sides. Wild black hair sticks out from beneath it, curling up and down and in seemingly every direction. A yellow strip of paper dangles over their right eye, shielding it from view. Licorice isn't close enough to make out the writing scribbled onto it.

Jianshi blows a raspberry at Olihana, who grips her knives readily. "Satanick ain't all that great!" They complain, not bothering to hide the needles slipping out from under their fingernails. "Why're you helping him?"

Olihana crosses her arms. "I'm not helping _Satanick_ ," she mutters, barely loud enough for Jianshi to hear, "I'm paying _Nio_ back for last time."

"Ah, that makes sense." They say, sounding more like they're talking to themself than anyone else. They clap their hands together, forcefully ejecting the needles into the air and catching them in their hand. "Well, anyway, I can't pass up a fight with you!"

Olihana rolls her eyes, as if she expected this (she probably did, though). "Then a fight we'll have." She calls out, reaching up and plucking the string of her mask so that it falls off her face and hits the ground. She glances over her shoulder at Licorice. "The portals are up ahead; just keep going in the same direction." She tells him, and he can make out the beginnings of a smile on her lips. He nods, a bit dazed from Jianshi's introduction, but moves to jump back up to the treetops. He's only landed on a branch not five feet above Olihana when Jianshi launches themself at the demon and screeches, "KIKI!"

Licorice looks over at them in confusion, but a shadow soon cloaks him before he can figure out what they're talking about. A yellow-eyed kanabo slams down against the branch, snapping it off like a twig and barely missing Licorice. He lands only meters away from Olihana, who's a bit preoccupied with dodging Jianshi's needles and nails together. The oni holding said kanabo, one with mustard skin and a plain brown yukata, doesn't even bother getting his feet on the ground, instead using the force from breaking the branch to flip himself and jam his foot into a neighboring tree's trunk, shooting him at Licorice. The demon summons his spear and jumps backwards, giving himself space to lift the tip and slice into the oni's wrist. He didn't account for the kanabo, however, spinning itself within its user's grip and knocking the spear to the side. Another materializes in its place immediately, but not quick enough for Licorice to defend against the kanabo's tooth, driving into his forearm. It dislodges from the weapon's mouth easily when Licorice pulls his knee up and kicks the oni in the stomach, sending them flying into a nearby trunk.

Licorice figures to leave the tooth in, as it'll keep him from losing blood, but that idea is lost when a well-aimed needle shoots out from his right and knocks it squarely out of his flesh. His head snaps up in Jianshi's direction, who blocks Olihana's knife with their nails and grins at him. Plum blood gushes from his arm; of _course_ it would've nicked a vein. His attention is quickly brought back to the oni, who leaps from the roots of the tree and into the branches, slicing through the air in a manner reminiscent of how Reina had earlier. "端" splatters across the air, dissipating as spikes similar to the oni's own horns rocket directly to Licorice. He follows suit with the oni and jumps into the trees, hoping to avoid them, but the horns curve straight up after him. He slashes his spear through three of them, shattering them to dust while the other five aim for his head. He vaguely hears the sound of robes rustling behind him, and his blood splatters over the tree trunk. The oni raises his kanabo and throws the end down through the air while Licorice shrinks, his legs and arms shortening while he ducks out of the way, slipping down between the oni and the tree branch to the grass below.

The oni blinks, ramming his kanabo into the tree branch and putting himself in the crosshairs of his spikes, only three of which he manages to dodge. One of the other two rips through his earlobe while the other lodges itself in the crook of his neck. He digs a fang into his lip to keep from shouting and spins around, only managing a glimpse of the _child_ sprinting away. He roars in anger, ignoring Jianshi's screams of delight as their needles dig into Olihana's biceps, pricking pearl by pearl of ruby red blood. The oni pushes himself off the tree at Licorice, holding his kanabo out offensively but seemingly not aiming at the demon. Once he's within a few meters of the other he slams his weight onto the handle of the kanabo, causing it to hit the ground with a loud rumble. Licorice tries to ignore him and keep running (he'd forgotten his legs were much shorter in his child form), but he stumbles, swiveling around and jumping up to the trees when the ground begins to fracture beneath his feet. The kanabo hisses as the oni wrenches it back out, heading at Licorice at full throttle. The demon haphazardly transforms back to his previous body, gripping his spear and shoving it forward. It misses, and the oni thrusts their kanabo forward in a mirror of Licorice's action. The demon draws his spear back in time to block the kanabo with the hilt, and he throws his knee up and leg out to knock the oni off balance. His tactic works this time, and he kicks off the oni's chest, flinging them down to the ground while flipping himself in midair. He grasps the end of his spear and drives the other end down at the oni, striking them squarely in the chest.

The kanabo clatters to the ground beside them, writhing and drooling into the grass. The oni does nothing but cough, splattering yellowish blood over their front and Licorice's spear. Their hands shake from the telltale shock of vital injury, and their eyes dart about as if trying to take in everything they can before death. Licorice stands and steps back, watching as their skin slowly loses its color, fading easily to gray. The _clang-clang_ of Olihana's knives and Jianshi's needles tells him the others haven't finished quite as fast as him, so he turns and sprints in the direction of the portals before Jianshi can make a move to stop him. The oni's corpse lies stiff behind him.

Nio is waiting at the edge of the forest, munching a saury as Licorice arrives. She raises a hand in greeting. "Took you long enough!" She says, flashing him a grin full of sharp teeth. "I got word that Gokuen beat Laste and Reina, so you better get a move on!" The nekomata licks off one of her nails, picking off a piece of fish. She points to the gravelly path bending into a clearing up ahead. "The portals are right down there, so you better get outta here! Go back to your Fire World or whatever it's called." She sticks the saury skeleton in her mouth like a makeshift toothpick, then stands and nudges Licorice towards the portals. "Come on, go!" She says.

He looks dazed at how fast she's talking, and blinks when she nudges him. "Ah-- yeah." He says, jogging toward the clearing. She whistles at his back, snickering at the two huge holes in his yukata. Before he steps down between the boulders marking the entrance, he turns around and cups his hands around his mouth, shouting, "Thank you!" Nio grins at him, waving animatedly and yelling, "Anytime!"

Licorice turns back and slides through the opening, revealing a small patch of gravel curved around the sides like a bowl, lined with more rocks on the edges. Giant holes litter the ground, with six filling out all the space within the clearing. He steps cautiously between them, careful not to accidentally fall into the wrong world. One catches his eye immediately-- one emanating a familiar orange glow, one he can only associate with _home._ He stops himself before jumping in, wondering what'll happen to the others, if they'll still be alive when he comes back. Would Reina still be there to play him in chess when he returned? Would Olihana still be hiding within the trees, fooling demons into thinking her an oni? Would Nio still be on her rock, eating saury and mooching off others? Or would she be dead, her blood dripping from the hands of Heller's father? Or worse-- would it be dripping from Heller's own?

He doesn't know. He doesn't know if everything will be the same as it's always been, or if he'll come back to a dead land. He doesn't know. But as the soft warmth of telltale flames cloaks his body, he closes his eyes and exhales, his breath a hot puff in the cool darkness. The air is serene, quiet as he falls in, thinking of nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> so. y e a h  
> i kno this is probably a lil confusing bc its a self indulgent mix of favs, hcs and pics mogeko drew. if u dont understand sth then hmu
> 
> about the japanese:
> 
> "伏魔殿" just means pandemonium.
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> "匿" literally means "shield" or "shelter" (though the word i had in mind for the spell was "hide")
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> "ー" is a character in katakana that is meant to emphasize drawing out a syllable (i.e. Olihaaaaaana = Olihaーna)
> 
> "端" translates to "point" or "tip" (i.e. spike, horn)


End file.
